C
Grammar and Usage Review

Subject and Verb Agreement

A subject and verb must agree in number and person.

	Singular	Plural
First person:	I walk	we walk
Second person:	you walk	you walk
Third person:	he walks
	she walks	they walk
	it walks

Most writers have little problem with typical sentences that have either a clearly singular or plural subject, such as the following sentences:

The Brooklyn Bridge connects Brooklyn with Manhattan.

Martha writes and edits medical reports.

The cars are parked across the street.

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns refer to a group of people or objects. They take singular form verbs when indicating a single group or unit. For example:

assembly

association

audience

board

cabinet

class

commission

committee

company

council

crowd

department

faculty

family

firm

group

information

jury

majority

management

minority

orchestra

public

staff

The committee is meeting today.

Note: Plural collective nouns take plural verb forms.

The committees are meeting today.

The following collective nouns are singular although they appear plural in form:

news

apparatus

series

summons

The World Series is always exciting.

On the other hand, these collective nouns are plural:

assets

earnings

odds

premises

profits

savings

wages

winnings

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to anyone or anything in particular and require singular verbs.

Everyone is waiting to meet you.

Here is a list of indefinite pronouns:

anybody

anyone

any one

anything

each

either

every

everyone

everybody

everything

neither

When two singular words are joined by or, either…or, neither…nor, the verb is singular:

Either William or Mary is going to receive the award.

When two plural words are joined by or, either…or, neither…nor, the verb is plural:

Neither the students nor their parents are pleased with the news of a tuition increase.

When a singular and plural words are joined by or, either…or, neither…nor, the verb agrees with the word closer to it:

Either the manager or her assistants are going to edit the report.

Words That Measure

Words that denote measurement often require a singular verb:

Fifty dollars is the average price of dinner in the new restaurant.

However, when the items being measured are viewed individually, use a plural verb:

Fifty dollars (bills) are in the jar.

When fractions and expressions that denote measurement are followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with of, the object of the phrase determines if the verb is singular or plural:

One-half of the report has been completed.

One-half of the reports have been completed.

The term the number is singular, but a number is plural:

The number of cardinals I’ve seen this spring is surprising.

A number of birds are gathering on my lawn this morning.

Titles and Names

Individual titles of books, newspapers, magazines, journals, reports, manuals, plays, courses, subjects, and names of companies and organizations are always followed by a singular verb.

The New York Times is a famous newspaper.

Physics is a difficult subject for many people.

Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays.

Verb Forms

Some verbs can be troublesome because they change their forms depending on the tense. Some words are always the same, such as cut, bid, burst, read, and set. Remember that with few exceptions the irregular verbs listed here change their spelling to form the past tense:

Present Tense	Past Tense	Past Participle*
arise	arose	arisen
awake	awoke	awoken
be (am, is, are)	was, were	been
begin	began	begun
bite	bit	bitten
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
buy	bought	bought
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
come	came	come
creep	crept	crept
dive	dove	dove
do	did	done
drag	dragged	dragged
dream	dreamed, dreamt	dreamt
draw	drew	drawn
dwell	dwelt	dwelt
drink	drank	drunk
drive	drove	driven
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
flee	fled	fled
fling	flung	flung
fly	flew	flown
forget	forgot	forgotten
freeze	froze	frozen
get	got	gotten
go	went	gone
grow	grew	grown
hide	hid	hidden
know	knew	known
lay (to place)	laid	laid
lie (to recline)	lay	lain
lie (to falsify)	lied	lied
light	lit	lit
lose	lost	lost
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
pay	paid	paid
prove	proved	proven
ride	rode	ridden
ring	rang	rung
rise	rose	risen
run	ran	run
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
seek	sought	sought
shake	shook	shaken
shine (to beam)	shone	shone
shine (to polish)	shined	shined
show	showed	shown
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank	sunk
sit	sat	sat
slide	slid	slid
speak	spoke	spoken
spring	sprang	sprung
steal	stole	stolen
sting	stung	stung
strive	strove	striven
swear	swore	sworn
swim	swam	swum
swing	swung	swung
take	took	taken
teach	taught	taught
tear	tore	torn
tell	told	told
throw	threw	thrown
wear	wore	worn
weave	wove	woven
write	wrote	written

*Note: Past participle verbs denote (1) an action or activity that started in the past and is ongoing or continuing or (2) a more recent or immediate past action or activity. These verb forms are always preceded by am, was, were, has, has been, have, have been, had, or had been.

Examples

John has written manuals for our company for 20 years. (ongoing activity)

The boy has broken the window. (recent action)

Pronoun Agreement

Personal pronouns in various forms are listed here:

	Subject	Object	Possessive
First Person:	I, we	me, us	my, our
Second Person:	you	you	your
Third Person:	he	him	his
	she	her	her
	it	it	its
	they	them	their

Personal Pronouns

A personal pronoun, whether singular or plural, must always agree with its antecedent (the word to which the pronoun refers). For example:

Pamela is very happy with her new haircut.

The students were anxious to take their final exams.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to anyone or anything in particular. They include the following:

any

anyone

each

either

every

everyone

neither

no one

some

someone

When they are singular, both the verb any personal pronouns that follow in the same sentence will be singular. For example:

Each of the ballplayers has signed a five-year contract.

Anyone who was there that evening will always remember the fun he or she had.

Every manager is planning to attend the presentation skills workshop.

Note: When using the phrase either…or and neither…nor use the noun closest to the verb to determine if the verb form is singular or plural. For example:

Either Jeremy or Francisco is going to win the prize. Neither the managers nor their assistants are working late this week.

Neither the president or nor his representatives have decided to attend the conference.

Either his representatives or the president is planning to attend the conference.

Comparative and Sentence-Completion Pronouns

Sentences that contain comparative references or incomplete clauses often use a subject rather than object pronoun. For example:

Tony has more experience than I. (than I have)

Alexis and Mark play tennis better than we. (than we play)

Pronouns Following Prepositions

Use object pronouns following prepositions. For example:

Between you and me, this is a great investment.

Sam gave the assignment to Grace and me.